No shoes for you!

[blamebrampton]

Thanks to everyone who gave shoe suggestions yesterday. I now have a list of brands to look out for. Alas, Sydney really is not a place to shop for shoes, I think because everyone wears decorative flip flops or, for the mad, ugg boots.
 
But the next time I am in Melbourne I will be heading to Sole Devotion, 1 Degraves St Melbourne and 124 Greville Prahran, open seven days. They have Trippen and Fluevog and EVERYTHING! pushdragon and meredyth_13, you should go!

Alas, the shop that alleged to have Trippen in Sydney did not. But they did have Alistair Trung clothing. If I was tall and rich I would only wear his clothes, and if I was just rich I would still wear several pieces. Asian-inspired deconstruction in lovely fabrics. Yum! I may not wear an awful lot of fashion, but I appreciate it when it is well made. (And to be fair to him, the prices were steep but not awful given the amount of handwork, which is all done by accredited labour.)

My shoe shop experience went like this.
me: Hello, I would like some shoes
nice shoe shop lady: Certainly! Wander about the shop with me and point out styles you like.
me: I have stumpy manky feet, BTW.
nssl: Easy, we have loads of brands that cater for people like you.
me: Yay!
nssl: Right, I have an idea what you like. Let's measure your feet. Hmmm. Gosh, they are stumpy.
me: It's true.
nssl: Not to worry, I'll go and pull a few pairs for you. [comes back, sad face] There's only one pair in your size! [tries them on] Oooh, that's not good.
me: I look like a Mormon.
nssl: I was gong to say Amish. That's not the look we're going for here. Sorry.

She was a very nice shoe shop lady, though. I'll hold off until I can get down to Melbourne.

In other news, Georgia is still immensely depressing, and while Michael Phelps may have won the most gold medals, it is my considered opinion that he is not the Greatest Olympian Ever. Jesse Owens leaves him for dead for a start. Call me an old grouch, but being an Olympian used to mean a great deal more than just winning. Pierre de Coubertin would argue my point, I feel.

Comments

[empress-jae.livejournal.com]

i might have to bribe you with prons to take a picture of your feet and post it. i just can't believe that they're stumpy that even the nice sales lady would say something!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

God no! I like you people!

The right one is always a bit swollen, has a huge scar running down from the ankle to nearly my big toe where they went in to rebuild my navicular (and a little scar on the side where the screw went in), my little toes are both crooked, there's a bump over my right navicular (the bone your foot pivots off) and my toes are splayed in a manner that harks back to a childhood spent kicking off my shoes at every opportunity.

I find it's best to put shoe sellers at ease rather than have them have to pretend I have attractive feet. I have magnificent hair, so it balances out ;-)

[empress-jae.livejournal.com]

great. now the picture in my head is terrifying. :P

you know, there could be potential for albus/scorpius foot porn with all of this.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

Gosh, they are stumpy

LOL!! She did NOT say that! I refuse to believe you. *g*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

We'd already bonded! And she is an Australian shoe shop lady. They are honest!

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

Ok, honest is great. But if anyone ever agreed with me so ... bluntly, I think I would burst out laughing. :D

[vaysh11.livejournal.com]

Can't wait for the day when we get to see those feet :-).
being an Olympian used to mean a great deal more than just winning Yeah to that.
Good luck shoe-shopping. I would have suggested Birkenstock, of course, but you already knew about them ...

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I dropped my fave pair of Birkies in for resoling just this afternoon ;-)

You will laugh and laugh at my feet, it's the only sensible response. I'll hopefully have attractive enough shoes by then that I will not care!

[(Anonymous)]

After last night's conversation and also after reading this post, I will never complain about not being able to get shoes in my size on sale again.

From Anne

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It's the price I pay for a mis-spent youth. I advise foot and knee care while you're young!

[annes-stuff.livejournal.com]

I got the sensible footwear talk from my mother.

She wore stilletos in her youth and she now has terrible varicose veins and combined with the car accident she had 23 years ago, her hips are stuffed as well.

[libby-drew.livejournal.com]

I saw a group of Amish this weekend while driving across Ohio. They were eating pancakes at a small diner. I haven't been able to get the image out of my head since. I think it was the children's obvious glee at the seemingly bottomless bottle of syrup.

They wear very sensible shoes.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I like the Amish, or at least what I know of them. If you're going to be a Serious Christian, I think you should be serious. Though I am glad to see that there is a place for pancakes and maple syrup!

You know that you can buy Amish clothes online. This amuses me.

[libby-drew.livejournal.com]

There's fic there, you realize.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

We buy all our Maple Syrup for the Mennonites who live done the road. :D

The most interesting thing I've seen is a family of Mennonites at a garage sale loading up a washing machine to their horse and buggy.

[romaine24.livejournal.com]

We shall have to meet someday and go shoe shopping together. My right foot is also totally messed up. I have to buy very expensive shoes once a year and then wear them until they shred. I look longingly at the high-heeled boots and sob. (note icon which is a pair of Shiv's boots).

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I'll check out Trippen and Fluevog for you. My holy grail is a pair of heels that fit properly and can be walked in. If I find them, I'll pass it on! Shoe shopping sounds like a great plan, we should!

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

*giggles* I wish sales ladies here were as honest as her!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I find lots of them over here. Though I have to admit that I start by treating them as normal people, so that's what I get back!

[pingrid.livejournal.com]

Oh, gotta love honest sales people! It always makes me want to come back to that store because you know they won't sell you crap.

I want to see those stumpy feet! I'll reciprocate by showing you my crooked toes that don't seem to have any muscle; even if I ... what's it called when you do the toe equivalent of making a fist? Anyway, that, they're completely loose and odd. Not much of a show compared to yours, I grant you, but I'll contribute what I can.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY! I end up recommending their shop to people who would be able to find good things there anyway!

Your toes sound hilarious. We could have the manky foot show! And I've realised that my scar isnlt as long as I allege in a comment above, I looked at it last night and it stops a couple of inches before my big toe. It just Looms Large in my memory.

[meredyth-13.livejournal.com]

Well, I would go, if a certain woman got her arse to Melbourne, cause I don't shop easily. Not that I spend money on shoes, but I'm a great enabler of other's spending.

Have you considered the ancient art of foot binding? *g*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

But I already find it hard enough to fit my stumpy little feet! Not to mention have enough of a case of the hobbles!

[pushdragon.livejournal.com]

I only regret I did not pay close enough attention to your feet to notice anything out of the ordinary! Next time I shall get out the tape measure.

I do need a new pair, one that has heels that won't trip me up and give me whiplash. Thanks for the pointer.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Let me know what it's like. From the press it sounds like a shoe Mecca, but I have been let down before.

And yes, avoiding shoe whiplash is a Vital Attribute!